


The secret.

by Theatrebaby88



Category: Spooks | MI-5
Genre: Adoption, Character Death Fix, Childbirth, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-02-15 23:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2246562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theatrebaby88/pseuds/Theatrebaby88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a horrifying and psychological ordeal, one of Section D's best holds a secret, is it one they can leave behind, or will it catch up with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The secret.

The early morning sun was shut out by heavy red curtains, the bed was unmade and a figure sat on the bedroom floor, a woman. Her back was against the side of the bed and her knees were hunched to her chest. She took a staggered breath then stood, before wiping her eyes.

Harry Pearce sat in his office in the grid at Thames house. It was around seven A.M. He was looking through a file on his desk, and ran a hand over his forehead.  His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door of his office; "Come in." He said as he closed the file and set it in a drawer. He was surprised when the door opened.

"Jo, what are you doing here? You're in no fit state." He said as the young officer walked into the room and closed the door behind her. Harry then lifted the file from the drawer he had put it in and set it on the desk again. "Is it about this?" He asked as he tapped the file. "Adam tells me  you can't remember anything, that you are still in denial. Ros has informed me how you've had to call her at four in the morning because you have nightmares that you can't tell are memories or just that, nightmares. Jo..I can't have you back on the grid like that...look at you even now, you look sick. Have you been eating?" He asked.

Jo sat down across from Harry, and listened as he spoke. She nodded in agreement as her boss told her she was not fit for work. "I know, Harry; that's why I'm here. I'm in trouble " She told him tearfully, then bit her lip as if trying to told something back.

Harry looked at her across the table; "Jo. Whatever it is, we can help you." He told her.

Jo nodded, but tears were already slowly running down her cheeks. Harry handed her a tissue, and then he listened.

 

The conversation didn't last long, but Harry knew just how affected his officer had been after her ordeal, and what she had just said had made him more concerned for her well being. He asked for her consent to speak to two other officers about this development, and she agreed.

It didn't take long for Harry to arrange some help for Jo. Only a few hours later he arrived back at her flat with Adam Carter and Ros Myers.  He handed her a plane ticket and an envelope containing some money.

"This will keep you going for a few months." He told her, "I have an old contact from my time in section A, she is willing to put you up and help you as you need." He added. 

"When do I leave?" Jo asked.

"Tomorrow morning." Ros replied, then put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "And you are going to be fine."

Adam looked at Jo, then hugged her. "I'm sorry...I am sorry." He told her, his own guilt over this still eating at him.

"It's not your fault." She replied into his shoulder.

 

The next morning was dull and grey as Jo stepped off the plane. A short distance, yet it felt so far from home. The accent's surrounding her were course and heavy, but one stood out, a voice she had spoken too only a night before. "Joanna?" Said a woman, "Harry sent you, didn't he." It wasn't a question.

Jo looked up and gave a slight smile as a small round woman with thick black hair and a red cardigan stood in front of her, she matched the picture Harry had shown her the previous night. "Janet. Hello." Jo replied as she extended her hand, "Yes, Harry sent me."

Janet smiled and looked down as Jo extended her hand, she clasped it in her own, wrinkled fingers. "It's nice to meet you. Now c'mon you before you catch your death...that wee shirt...you could spit through it." She grumbled as she guided Jo out into the car park.

Janet led Jo to a small green Ford Focus and shook her head. "That's an a'ful wee case for a wee girl of...what are you, twenty seven? I've seen girls your age go to Tenerifey for a fortnight with more!"

Jo smiled at the woman's choice of words, her way of speech was different and amusing. She seemed friendly enough.

As they drove through the streets they passed street signs with two languages, flags that hung from lamp posts and walls with murals. They passed a large building in the center of the city, and  there were people sitting on benches, eating McDonalds.

Soon, they  left the main city, passing police vans and youths, crossing a bridge that seemed tiny compared to some, but there was a lovely walking path near it. After a while they turned up into a small, old looking street with a street sign with only English.

"Well Joanna, welcome to Belfast." Janet said with a smile as she turned off the engine. "You get your case out of the boot, I'll go and stick the kettle on."

Jo got her suitcase from the boot of the focus, and took it into the house.

"Just you set it in the hall there, love, we'll get it up to your room in a wee minute. Janet said as she bustled about in the small kitchen. "Now, there's not a lot of room, but It's better than the hotel that fella Adam suggested. Come on I'll show you about while the kettle's boiling."

Janet lifted Jo's suitcase. "Carrying it to the car's one thing, up these stairs is another."

The upstairs was simple, two bedrooms, a bathroom and an airing cupboard, the downstairs was a living room, and the kitchen, which Janet referred to as 'The Scullery'.  though it was big enough to hold a small table and four chairs.

The room that Janet had allocated for Jo was a large single room with a large single bed, a wardrobe, dresser and bedside cabinet. "I've got spare sheets for you to make the bed with, I thought you'd want to put them on yourself though, and I was letting the bed air, there's a duvet and two pillows I need to pick up from the laundry place later on." She informed her young lodger.

"Thank you." Jo replied with a small smile as they walked down the stairs. "I do appreciate this."

Janet poured the boiled water in to two mugs she had set out,  and made them both a cup of strong, milky tea. "Right, Harry's told me a wee bit,and I think it's a right shame what's going on, but I want to hear it from you, ok pet?" She said as she set the mugs on the table.

Jo exhaled, "Janet... I don't want to talk about it..please."

Janet shook her head, "I know, wee love, but you need to tell me, so I can help, ok. I'm not going to judge you for something you have no control over."

 

Jo nodded, then took a breath. "Five months...Five months ago, I was taken prisoner, to be sold...the man who took me..he.." She wiped her eyes, "He tortured me...and he raped me."

Janet handed her a tissue. "And this is because of him then, he did this to you?" 

Jo nodded; "Yes."

Janet took her hand across the table. "You're going to do fine, trust me. You're not to blame."

Jo wiped her eyes with the tissue. "I...I know, Thank you..for listening, I mean."

Janet gave Jo's hand a light squeeze, "You're very welcome. Now, lets get you sorted out."

****

The months went by quickly, and Jo became bigger and bigger, her body no longer felt like her own and she was suffering badly. It was around three am, four months after she had arrived in Belfast, when Jo was lying in bed that she felt her abdomen tighten suddenly, eliciting a sharp gasp of pain from the woman. As it held for a few seconds,  then released, Jo took a breath,that had been horrible. Moment's later another came, and this time Jo gave a low, pained moan. She hit the bedroom wall, hoping to grab the attention of Janet, which it did. 

The walls of the hospital were a bright white, and the lights were blinding.  Jo gripped Janet's hand as she focused all her strength into her lower half.  Screaming wasn't the word. Jo was in agony, afraid and unsure.

"That's it...come on, Jo.." Said the woman at the bottom of the bed, "Once more."

And she did, Jo took a breath and pushed. Pressure, so much pressure. Then a horrible, sickening tearing sensation that caused her to yell out. The room filled with a newborn's cry, and Janet swallowed. They placed the baby on Jo's chest, and though she swore she wouldn't, she couldn't help but look.

Janet wiped her own tears. "A little girl..Joanna..you don't have to do this."

Jo looked at the crying, squirming bundle on her chest as Janet separated them from the cord. The baby was the image of it's mother, with big blue eyes and fine, dark blonde hair. She was creased and wrinkled, her skin was red and blotchy, but when she stopped and looked up at her mother, Jo couldn't help the tears as she felt a surge of emotion run through her.  

"Yes, Janet...I do. But not for the same reason I had last night...but for her..because if I don't, then one day she'll ask me who he is, she'll be too young, or I'll see him in her, and I'll begin to resent her. I don't want that for her, I don't want Harry, or Adam, to one day have to say to her 'You're mum isn't coming home. Here, this, it's all better for her."

Janet was in tears, she dabbed at her cheeks, "At least name her?"

Jo stroked the baby's cheek, and the child turned to try and feed. Jo took a shuddering breath as her composure broke. "Amelia Joanna Portman."   She told Janet, "Now please, take her away before I can change my mind.."

The next day, Jo was let home without her child, after signing the correct forms. Two days later she was on a ferry to Scotland, where she would get on a train to London and get on with her life and only five people in the world would ever know of Amelia Joanna Portman.

 

****

It was a warm day in London. A young woman, no older than twenty five stood in a small cafe ordering a caramel latte. She had an odd feeling about her, something she couldn't shake.  She sat down with her coffee at a table near the window and moved a strand of curly, blonde hair off her face. She took a sip of her drink then set it down, scanning the room with greyish blue eyes.  She saw the man walk in setting his bag down and ordering a coffee. He took his coffee and left, moving his bag with his foot, but he never took it with him.

The woman walked over to the till and casually, and calmly said to the man behind the counter about the bag, she then told him to call police, and she then walked over to  customer, and told them to calmly make there way out of the building, as there was a gas leak from old pipes. 

The building was cleared without fuss or injury and a bomb meant to cause carnage in the center of the capital had been disarmed.

Another man, Charles Clegg had been in the coffee shop that day, and he had seen the woman's efficiency and calm demeanor. He was an aging man, at least fifty, and had seen this behavior before, he approached the woman later that day. 

It was six weeks later when Charles Clegg, head of section D, MI5 stepped onto the grid, he looked over at the newest member of his team as she made light work of a false lead,  and gave a small smile.  " Good to see you're making yourself at home, Amelia."

"Aimee." The woman replied in a light, Northern Irish accent, "I just get Aimee, sir."

 

 

 


End file.
